End-to-end food delivery ecosystem

ABSTRACT

An online delivery ecosystem enabling buyers/delivery personnel to purchase grocery, restaurants, and other prepared foods on behalf of customers and check out using a mobile application, bypassing traditional person checkout systems, and storing this transaction information to blockchain based systems as immutable systems of record.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. non-provisionalapplication Ser. No. 17/249,142, filed 22 Feb. 2021, as a continuationthereof, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to online food delivery systems and, moreparticularly, an online end-to-end food and grocery delivery ecosystemthat leverages blockchain technology to facilitate both shopping forgrocery, ordering food delivery and takeout from restaurants, foodtrucks, and/or professional home kitchens, and reducing food wastethrough enabling donations to Non-Profit entities in a traceable,audible, secure, and efficient manner with end-to-end transparency ofprocesses.

Existing online food ordering and distribution systems have multipleintermediaries between the supplier and the customer. When these layersincrease, it also inflates the rates of commission. Data from differentsources show that this commission is as high as 20%-30%. While yet thedelivery teams involved often argue that they only receive the residual.It is possible to minimize costs by introducing automation andimplementing algorithms powered by blockchain technology. If ablockchain solution does not power the food delivery app, it makes it adaunting challenge to hustle the whole process of recruiting aparticipant on the delivery team.

Current database and the procurement processes for recruiting deliveryworkers lack rigor to, for instance, identify and vet recruits withprevious criminal background history or those who fail to comply withtraffic laws. Lack of blockchain solutions limits visibility of multipletransactions like tipping or commissions between online deliverysystems, delivery workers and customers. On the other hand, infusingblockchain technology into a food delivery app enables prevention offood spoilage as well as providing authentic off-menu cuisines tocustomers with simple clicks.

As can be seen, there is a need for an online end-to-end food andgrocery delivery ecosystem that leverages blockchain technology tofacilitate both shopping for food, ordering food for delivery, andenabling donations to Non-Profit entities of through identifyingexcessive waste in a traceable, audible, secure, and efficient mannerwith end-to-end transparency of processes, whereby centralized layersand intermediaries are replaced with the present invention that promotesenhanced security and strengthened growth. The Non-Profit entities mayinclude, but are not limited to, food pantries, foodbanks, localshelters, and any chartable entity that needs food to feed the lessfortunate.

The goal is to track products from farm to fork using blockchain andinternet of things (IoT) enabled technologies. By creating traceable andtransparent supply chains for food, consumers can attain the informationthey need to make informed choices about the food they buy and thecompanies they support. For stakeholders in the food supply chain,having traceability and transparency builds better relationships withtheir customers, increases efficiency, and reduces the risk and cost offood recalls, fraud, and product loss. The blockchain technology createsan opportunity to fix and transform the world's food system.

Due to COVID 19, the food service industries are struggling to run thebusiness as customers are choosing not to eat outside and insteadrelying more on online delivery and take-home services: squeezing outvaluable food suppliers.

The present invention offers one stop shop for groceries and preparedfoods. Additionally, the present invention embodies a platform thatbridges the gap of unemployed staff or struggling restaurant's owners torent their commercial kitchens to home entrepreneurs and allowrestaurants and entrepreneurs to donate surplus food to nearbyfood-pantries and complying all the state and federal regulations.

Specifically, by embedding blockchains in relational tables, thedatabase stores trust related information in a tamper-proof fashion,making the data provenance provably verifiable. Currently there is noplatform which offers aforementioned grocery, restaurant's food andregional cuisine order to delivery experience using a distributedelectronic ledger providing various capabilities, includingtraceability, audibility, security, and efficiency with end-to-endtransparency of processes. Moreover, currently there are no onlinefood/grocery delivery providers partnered with non-profit organizationsto prevent food waste, track their Non-Profit food donations inimmutable records from the donor to the non-profit entity, and issueelectronic receipt fulfilling their actual obligations.

Current online food delivery and surplus Non-Profit food donationssystems are built in client-server centralized system. Centralizeddatabases record present information only, they do not trace informationthat was previously recorded. With blockchains, the case is different.They not only keep information that is relevant in real-time but alsocan trace back information of transactions that have come before.Blockchains can create databases that have histories of themselves,i.e., they grow like ever-expanding archives of their own history. Ablockchain uses a peer-to-peer or P2P network architecture. It does notrequire access to a centralized database, instead all participatingnodes in the network can connect with each other. There is no “master”that controls all nodes. Each peer is equal to each other in how theyaccess the blockchain without requiring administrator oversight and thusadministrator fallibility.

The primary difference between a blockchain and a database iscentralization. In contrast, all records secured on a database arecentralized, each participant on a blockchain has a secured copy of allrecords and all changes so each user can view the provenance of thedata. The magic happens when there is an inconsistency—since eachparticipant maintains a copy of the records, blockchain technology willimmediately identify and correct any unreliable information. Currentsystem neither offer this functionality nor they are integrated tothrough the soup to nuts of ordering grocery, ordering prepared food,and donation of surplus grocery and prepared foods to nonprofits.

The software application, through online resources, unite grocery,prepared (restaurant and regional cuisine that is prepared at home or ina vehicle). Customers will have flexible options to choose individual orgroup plans and schedule their delivery in advance, request groceryitems, access food recipes they wish to enjoy making on their own,surprise menus set based on chefs' choice and customer eating patterns,and the like. The software application will offer restaurants owners andculinarians to earn additional income by sharing space and meals withdesired customers. The strict security measures protect the transactionsand information from frauds, and data tampering. With food tests, thepossibility of foreign matters in the food items could be detected,along with minute details like a batch of food, timings for execution,etc. With blockchain technology the tracking of food items is very easy.Barcodes, QR code, and the like makes the job much easier for companies.Moreover, businesses can regulate who gets access to see the informationof products.

The present invention embodies an integrated mobile and web applicationthat will be one stop shop for customers to order grocery items fromgrocery stores and to order prepared food from restaurants and will alsoserve as link for donation of the excess food (prepared at restaurantsor stored at grocery stores) to the Non-Profit entities in need. Thisonline application will connect customers and nonprofit organizationswith the food services and will enable the restaurant owners, groceryowners and regional cuisine (kitchen) owners to list their leftover foodand reach to the needy.

Also, most of the people far from home want to eat food that tastesclose to their home and culture. The software application embodied inthe present invention is adapted to connect those people to certainchefs that make signature dishes not found in any restaurant's menu.Additionally, this application aims at transparency around how much ofthe tip on any given delivery order goes to the delivery worker. Toenable better transparency and a single source of truth for all thestakeholders, blockchain technology will be used.

The present invention relates to distributed electronic ledger orblockchain self-checkout-based technologies providing end-to-endtransparency of order to delivery experience for online ordering ofperishable food so that surplus food is efficiently donated toNon-Profit entities. For example, if a customer added grocery and mealsthrough the app for checkout and added a tip amount for the buyer, thenthe buyers will have full transparency on the tip amount, his base payand additional incentive he has received as part of order. In anotherexample, restaurant owners can donate surplus consumable food and getthe benefit of tax advisement.

Blockchain can provide buyers, restaurant owners and Non-Profit entitieswith the opportunity to account for their activities, track immutablerecords, pass foods from the donor to the non-profit, and issueelectronic receipt fulfilling their actual obligations.

By being provided traceability and transparency in this supply chainsfor food, consumers can attain the information they need to makeinformed choices about the food they buy and the companies they support.For stakeholders in the food supply chain, having traceability andtransparency builds better relationships with their customers, increasesefficiency, and reduces the risk and cost of food recalls, fraud, andproduct loss. For grocery, restaurants, regional cuisine outlets (e.g.,home cooking), the present invention may use self-checkout technologies,enabling the buyers/delivery personnel check out through a mobileapplication.

Current systems have buyers fulfill orders at a physical retailer onbehalf of customers, using a cyber shopping service system. Once a buyerhas collected one or more items for purchase, the buyers/deliverypersonnel must wait in line or use self-serve checkout station to payfor the items according to the traditional check-out process. This is atime-consuming process, and because buyers/delivery personnel use amobile device to scan and record items each item picked up for purchase,involves redundant activity. A more efficient check-out process allowsthe buyers/delivery personnel to complete purchase of selected items onhis/her mobile device, thereby eliminating unnecessary actions andreducing the time required to complete an order.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention enables customers to purchase grocery, preparedfood which is not easily available in the restaurants while usingdistributed ledger (blockchain) technology to provide traceability,audibility, security, and efficiency with end-to-end transparency ofprocesses. Restaurants owners will have online application to uploadtheir menu, set the price and donate surplus food to local communities.Customer can place an order for them and/or on behalf of their lovedones for grocery shopping, restaurants food or regional cuisine homecooking. Buyers will have options to accept an entirety of an order orselect a portion of the order from the customer order batch. Buyerdrivers can orchestrate and plan the logistics of delivering the orderand suggest delivery times to customer. For restaurants and otherpreparers of prepared food (such as cooks of regional cuisine who may belooking to commercial kitchen space), buyers/delivery personnel willpick up and deliver the order. Restaurant owners can submit surplus fooddonation to multiple local non-profit entity. Non-Profit entity canschedule their own pickup or use cyber shopping system to request apickup. For grocery shopping it enables a buyer to bypass a physicalcheck-out process at a retailer by completing his/her purchase via amobile application on the phone of the buyers/delivery personnel.

In one embodiment, the buyer is shopping at the retailer on behalf of acustomer, who specified a list of items for the buyers to purchase viathe cyber shopping service. The customer places an order using a websiteor client application that communicates with the online smart system.The order specifies one or more items to be purchased at a retailer,restaurants, or regional cuisines. The cyber shopping service collectspayment from the customer and transmits the order to a buyers/deliverypersonnel. The buyers/delivery personnel travels to one or moreretailers, restaurants, or regional cuisines to fulfill the order. Whileat a grocery retailer, the buyers/delivery personnel collect and scaneach item using a buyers/delivery personnel mobile application that runson the buyers/delivery personnel's mobile device. The buyers/deliverypersonnel mobile application records each item and associated iteminformation describing each product and adds items in the cart forpurchase. The buyers/delivery personnel mobile application transmitsinformation describing the cart to the online smart system, whichdetermines a total value for the items in the cart. The cyber shoppingservice transmits payment to a system associated with the retailer,thereby completing purchasing items from the cart, and it also storestransaction information (hash key#) to blockchain based systems(Hyperledger, C-RDA, etc.) as immutable systems of record. Thebuyers/delivery personnel then leave the store, restaurant, regionalcuisine and delivers the purchased grocery items and food to thecustomer or food pantry (as requested by customer). Once order has beenplaced and buyers receives it, buyers will have transparent access tothe tip amount that has been allocated by the customer. Regulators willbe able to access Blockchain Explorer to view the complete journey ofthe transaction from restaurant owners placing a donation request todelivering it to nonprofit organization.

The present invention offers customers to purchase grocery, restaurantsfood and regional cuisine authentic food, which is not easily availablein the restaurants while using distributed ledger (blockchain)technology to provide traceability, audibility, security, and efficiencywith end-to-end transparency of processes.

The customer places an order using a website or client application thatcommunicates with the online BMA (buyer's mobile application) system.The order specifies one or more items to be purchased at a retailer,restaurants, or regional cuisines. The cyber shopping service collectspayment from the customer and transmits the order to a buyers/deliverypersonnel. The buyers/delivery personnel travels to one or moreretailers to fulfill the order.

While at a grocery retailer, the buyers/delivery personnel collect andscan each item using a buyers/delivery personnel mobile application thatruns on the buyers/delivery personnel's mobile device. The BMA recordseach item scan by the application and associated item informationdescribing each product, and then the application adds items in the cartfor purchase. The BMA determines a total value for the items in thecart. The cyber shopping service transmits payment to a systemassociated with the retailer, thereby completing purchasing items fromthe cart, it also stores transaction information (hash key#) toblockchain based systems (Hyperledger, C-RDE, etc.) as immutable systemsof record. The buyers/delivery personnel then leave the store,restaurant, regional cuisine and delivers the purchased grocery itemsand food to the customer or food pantry (as requested by customer).

In another embodiment, the buyers/delivery personnel perform anaccelerated check-out using his/her specialized mobile application atgrocery retailers. Once the buyers have collected the items requested inthe order, the buyer's mobile application programmatically connects tothe retailer system, performs checkout and stores the receipt for theorder with a QR code or the like. A cashier, employee, or automatedscanner at the physical check-out scans QR code/order details, verifyingand confirming the order details.

Regional cuisine chefs will have access to nearby state approvedcommercial kitchens to rent a kitchen and prepare food to customer orbuyers to deliver food to customers. Restaurant owners will receive areceipt for the surplus food donation and maintains a record in thedistributed blockchain (Hyperledger) chain system.

In one aspect of the present invention, a system for facilitating theordering of food products, the system includes the following: (a) a foodshopping service comprising an order management engine and a pluralityof relational databases coupled to a blockchain chain system; (b) aplurality of food retailers, each retailer comprising a retail server inelectrical communication with an inventory database of the plurality ofrelational databases; (c) an ordering entity, the ordering entitycomprising a first computing device in electrical communication with theorder management engine, the ordering entity creating an itemized listcomprising one or more items, the itemized list being received by thefood shopping service, the order management engine translating theitemized list into one or more batch orders associated with one or moreof the plurality of retailers, as a function of the inventory database,and the one or more batch orders being stored by the cyber shoppingservice in the plurality of relational databases; (d) a food buyer, thefood buyer comprising a second computing device in electricalcommunication with the order management engine and the plurality of foodretailers, the food purchaser retrieving the one or more batch ordersusing the second computing device; wherein the order management engineis configured to translate the retrieved batch orders to an identifiablelist displayed on the second computing device; wherein the identifiablelist is manipulated by the food buyer through scanning an item from theitemizable list at a physical premise associated with one of theplurality or retailers; and said item is updated, by the ordermanagement engine, on a transactional records database of the pluralityof relational databases synchronically with each scanning.

In another aspect of the present invention, the system for facilitatingthe ordering of food products includes the following: a value channelcoupled to the order management engine, wherein the order managementengine determines a value a value for each item on the identifiable listas a function of the inventory database, wherein said value isretrievable stored in the transactional record database, wherein theordering entity transmits the value through the value channel, andwherein the value channel is configured to transmit said value to theretailer associated with the physical premise, the food buyer does nottransmit the value, wherein the second computing device is configured togenerate a barcode associated with identifiable list and said value, andwherein the retail server is configured to read the barcode, wherein theplurality of relational databases comprises a customer database, whereinthe customer database comprises one or more restriction rules, whereinthe inventory database comprises one or more purchase rules, and whereinthe second computing device is configured to analyzed the one or morerestriction and purchase rules for determining an allowability of eachitem on the identifiable list, wherein the second computing device isconfigured to transmits to the order management engine, a dispatchmentnotification indicating each allowability, wherein the indicating thatsaid menu item is being dispatched, wherein the dispatchmentnotification is received by the customer, wherein the transactionalrecord database records a tip value associated with each said value,wherein the order management engine is configured to determine adonation as a function of the inventory database, whereby the donationis delivered to a non-profit entity.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdrawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, illustrating customer mobile workflow thereof;

FIG. 1B is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, illustrating a blockchain-based application workflow thereof;

FIG. 1C is a blockchain-based schematic view of an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 1D is a blockchain-based schematic view of an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 1E is a blockchain-based schematic view of an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, illustrating a cyber showing service thereof;

FIG. 3A is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, illustrating a custom mobile application thereof;

FIG. 3B is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, illustrating a buyers mobile application thereof;

FIG. 4A is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, illustrating a buyers workflow thereof;

FIG. 4B is a continuation of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5A is a sequence diagrammatic view of an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, illustrating a cost saving direct transactionthereof;

FIG. 5B is a continuation of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6A is a sequence diagrammatic view of an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, illustrating a credit card transaction thereof;and

FIG. 6B is a continuation of FIG. 6A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplatedmodes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. Thedescription is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merelyfor the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention,since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 6A, the present invention includes anonline end-to-end food delivery system that leverages blockchaintechnology.

FIG. 1 illustrates the environment of a cyber shopping assistanceplatform, according to one embodiment. The systemic platform includes acyber shopping service (CSS) 102. The CSS 102 is configured to receiveorders from one or more customers 104 (only one is shown for the sake ofsimplicity).

An order may be selected from a list of items provided by a one or moreretailers, such as but not limited to a grocery store 110 a-110 c, arestaurant 710 a-710 c, a regional cuisine 810 c-810 b, or the like. Theordered items are delivered to the customer 104 or as a donation to aNon-Profit entity 910.

In some embodiments, the order specifies from which retailer theselected items should be purchased. The customer may use a customermobile application (CMA) 106 to place the order; the CMA 106 isconfigured to communicate with the CSS 102.

CMA 106 will also allow customer 104 i to order on behalf of othercustomer 104 ii via app, wherein some embodiments, CMA 106 mayfacilitate group conversation between customer 104 i and customer 104 iiso that buyers will be shopping for customer 104 i's order anddelivering to customer 104 ii per customer 104 i request.

The CSS 102 is configured to transmit orders received from customers 104to one or more buyers/delivery personnel 108. A buyer 108 may be acontractor, contractor, employee, or other person (or entity) who isenabled to fulfill orders received from the CSS 102.

As mentioned above, the ecosystem or platform includes a plurality ofretailers 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c, three restaurants (710 a, 710 b, 710c), a plurality of regional cuisine owners (810 a, 810 b, 810 c) andplurality of food banks locations (910 a, 910 b, 910 c (only three areshown for the sake of simplicity; the environment could include hundredsof retailers). Each buyer 108 fulfills an order received from the CSS102 at one or more retailers 110, restaurants 710, and regional cuisines810 and delivers the order to the customer 104 or Non-Profit Entity 910.In one embodiment, buyers/delivery personnel 108 make use of abuyers/delivery personnel mobile application (BMA) 112 which isconfigured to interact with the CSS 102.

As part of fulfilling an order, an order fulfillment smart engine (OFSE)206 may access a customer database 214 which stores informationdescribing each customer. This information could include each customer'sname, address, gender, shopping preferences, favorite items, storedpayment instruments, and so on. The CSS 102 may include the OFSE 206which is configured to synthesize and display an ordering interface toeach customer 104 (for example, via the CMA 106). The OFSE 206 may alsoconfigured to access the inventory database 204 to determine whichproducts are available at which retailers 110, restaurants 710 andregional cuisines 810. The OFSE 206 may determine a systemic sale pricefor each item ordered by a customer 104. The systemic sale prices set bythe OFSE 206 may or may not be identical to in-store prices determinedby retailers 110, restaurants 710, and regional cuisine 810. Thesystemic sale price may be the price that customers 104 andbuyers/delivery personnel 108 would pay at the retailer 110, restaurants710, and regional cuisine 810. Note, if the retailer changes the pricebased on demand or availability of items for any reason and the actualprice at the store has changed, between the time the order was placed bythe customer and when the buyer actually starts shopping, there is achance of the price difference. In such cases, there will be anadjustment posted on the final bill/receipt.

The OFSE 206 also facilitates transactions associated with each order.The OFSE 206 charges a payment channel associated with a customer 104when he/she places an order. The OFSE 206 may transmit paymentinformation to an external payment gateway or payment processor. TheOFSE 206 stores payment and transactional information associated witheach order in a transaction records database 208. Additionally, the OFSE206 will assist food providers (retailer 110, restaurants 710, andregional cuisine 810) to place donation order for group of Non-Profitentities 910 to secure donations as it is available and allow Non-Profitentities to schedule their pickups for donations or request buyers todeliver the donations by paying delivery fees. Order transactions arestored in the relational database as well as blockchain chain system(BCS) 207 synchronically.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a CSS 102. The BMA 112 includes an inventorymanagement smart engine (IMSE) 202, which interacts with inventorysystems associated with each retailer 110, restaurants 710, and regionalcuisine 810. The IMSE 202 requests and receives inventory informationmaintained by the retailer 110, restaurants 710, and regional cuisine810. The inventory of each retailer 110, restaurants 710, regionalcuisine 810 is unique and may change over time. The IMSE 202 monitorschanges in inventory for each participating retailer 110, restaurants710, regional cuisine 810. The IMSE 202 is also configured to storeinventory records in an inventory database 204. The inventory database204 may store information in separate records, one for eachparticipating retailer 110, restaurants 710, regional cuisine 810, ormay consolidate or combine inventory information into a unified record.Inventory information includes both qualitative and qualitativeinformation about items, including size, color, weight, SKU, serialnumber, and so on. The inventory database 204 also stores purchasingrules associated with each item if they exist. For example,age-restricted items such as alcohol and tobacco are flagged accordinglyin the database 204. Inventory management through IMSE 202 also managesfood providers donations to Non-Profit entities based on each Non-Profitentity's inventory, thereby donations may be done “in advance”, allowingNon-Profit entities to schedule their pickups.

The buyers/delivery personnel management smart engine (BMSE) 210 mayinteract with the BMA 112, which manages communication with andutilization of buyers/delivery personnel 108. In one embodiment, theBMSE 210 receives a new order from the OFSE 206. The BMSE 210 identifiesthe appropriate buyers 108 to fulfill the order based on one or moreparameters, such as the buyers/delivery personnel's proximity to theappropriate retailer 110 (and/or to the customer 104), his/herfamiliarity level with that particular retailer 110, restaurants 710,regional cuisine 810, 910 Non-Profit entity and so on. Additionally, theBMSE 210 accesses a buyers database 212 which stores informationdescribing each buyers 108, such as his/her name, gender, rating,previous shopping history, and so on.

In some embodiments, the OFSE 206 also shares order details withretailers 110, restaurants 710, regional cuisine 810 and 910. Forexample, after successful fulfillment of an order, the OFSE 206 maytransmit a summary of the order to the appropriate retailer,restaurants, regional cuisine. The summary may indicate the itemspurchased, the total value of the items, and in some cases, an identityof the buyers 108 and customer 104 associated with the transaction. Inone embodiment, the OFSE 206 pushes transactions and/or order detailsasynchronously to retailer, restaurants, and regional cuisines systems.This may be accomplished via use of webbook's, which enable programmaticor system-driven transmission of information between web applications.Retailer, restaurants, and regional cuisine systems may be configured toperiodically poll the OFSE 206, which provides detail of all orderswhich have been processed since the last request.

In some embodiments, the blockchain explorer retrieve transactioninformation from 217 which is private blockchain available for buyersand regulators to enable better transparency and a single source oftruth for all the stakeholders. For example, after successfulfulfillment of an order, the OFSE 206 may transmit a summary of theorder to the appropriate retailer, restaurants, regional cuisine. Thesummary may indicate the items purchased, the total value of the items,and in some cases, an identity of the buyers 108 and customer 104associated with the transaction. Buyers may verify tip information byfiltering transaction ID from blockchain explorer likewise regulatorswill have access to view complete journey of the transaction.

FIGS. 1B through 1E are diagrams of a blockchain based application flow.In some embodiments, the CSS 102 will accept transactions request fromgrocery retailers, restaurants, regional cuisines, Non-Profit entities,buyers and customers. CSS 102 then transmits data to the systemicrelational databases and the system administrator can query datadirectly from these relational databases for further analysis. CSS 102may insert data respective to each step in the process to blockchain(via Hyperledger API's) which can be easily accessible on the basis oforder ID.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of the CMA 106. The CMA 106 includes an orderinginterface 302, which provides an interactive interface with which thecustomer 104 can browse through and select products (restaurant ordering302 a, grocery ordering 302 b, and regional cuisine 303 c) and place anorder. The CMA 106 also includes a system communication interface 304which, among other functions, receives inventory information from theCSS 102 and transmits order information to the system 206. The CMA 106also includes a preferences management interface 306 which allows thecustomer 104 to manage basic information associated with his/heraccount, such as his/her home address and payment channels. Thepreferences management interface 306 may also allow the user to manageother details such as his/her favorite or preferred retailers 110,preferred delivery times, special instructions for delivery, and so on.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of the BMA 112. The BMA 112 includes a QR codescanning module 320 which allows a buyer's 108 to scan an item at aretailer 108 (such as a box of cereals on the shelf at a grocery store).The barcode scanning module 320 may also include an interface whichallows the buyers/delivery personnel 108 to manually enter informationdescribing an item (such as its serial number, SKU, quantity and/orweight) if a barcode is not available to be scanned. BMA 112 alsoincludes a cart manager 322 which maintains a running record of itemscollected by the buyers/delivery personnel 108 for purchase at aretailer 110. This running record of items is commonly known as a“cart”. In one embodiment, the barcode scanning module 320 transmitsinformation describing each item (such as its cost, quantity, weight,etc.) to the cart manager 322, which updates its cart accordingly. TheBMA 112 also includes a system communication interface 324 whichinteracts with the CSS 102. For example, the system communicationinterface 324 can both receive an order from the CSS 102 and,separately, transmit contents of a cart of items to the CSS 102. The BMA112 communicates with retailer payment gateway and perform finalcheckout from the app. For example, buyers add customer's items into thecart and pay directly from the app to retailers, upon successfulpayment, retailers generate a QR code which can then be scanned by anemployee of the retailer 110 if needed to verify the transaction. Forrestaurant and regional cuisines 302 and food pickup screen 902 submitsorder to cyber shopping system and cyber shopping system transmitsinformation to buyer to collect the order and deliver it to thecustomer.

As described with reference to FIG. 3A, the CMA 106 is used by thebuyers to scan and record pricing, quantity, and other informationdescribing each item in an order. The barcode scanning module 320 allowsa buyers/delivery personnel 108 to simply scan a barcode attached to anitem (or enter information manually if necessary); the cart manager 322maintains and updates a record of all items being collected by thebuyers/delivery personnel 108 for a particular order. In someembodiments, the BMA 112, subsequent to receiving an identification ofitems for purchase, can perform a “bypass checkout” in which ittransmits payment to the appropriate retailer 110 on behalf of thebuyers/delivery personnel 108, thereby removing the need for the buyers108 to wait in line at a physical point-of-sale (such as a check-outcounter) within the retailer. Restaurant and regional cuisines 302 andfood pickup screen module may transmit information to buyer to collectthe order and deliver it to the customer. CSS 102 will group the orderand release to nearest buyer location to offer maximum delivery of anorder to the customer.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the process of performing a bypass checkoutusing a buyers/delivery personnel mobile application. A buyers/deliverypersonnel receives an order to be fulfilled (from the CSS 102) andtravels to an appropriate retailer, restaurants, and regional cuisines.The appropriate retailer, restaurants, regional cuisines may becommunicated by the CSS 102 along with the order details, or it may beleft to the discretion of the buyers/delivery personnel. Thebuyers/delivery personnel locate an item specified by the order 404 a,404 b, 404 c, and/or 404 d. The buyers/delivery personnel scans 406 athe item using a buyers/delivery personnel mobile application (part ofBMA 112); the buyers/delivery personnel may also manually enter productand pricing information associated with the item if necessary. The BMA112 determines if one or more special restrictions 408 a, 408 b, 408 c,408 d are associated with the item. As described previously, specialrestrictions include age restrictions (for alcohol, tobacco, peanutallergies products), quantity/count restrictions (for high-demanditems), and so on.

If the mobile BMA determines that special restrictions do not apply, itsimply adds 412 a, 412 b, 412 c, and 412 d the item to a digital cartwhich lists all items currently marked for purchase.

If the BMA 112 determines that special restrictions do apply, it thendetermines 410 a, 410 b, 410 c, 410 c if the purchase is allowable. Thiscould include looking up the age of the customer (to see if he/she isold enough to purchase alcohol or any peanut allergies have been noted)or counting how many instances of the item have already been collectedfor purchase (in the case where a retailer institutes a purchase limitfor each customer or additional dietary restrictions have been noted bycustomers).

The BMA 112 determines allowability by requesting information from theCSS 102. For example, the inventory management smart-engine extractspurchasing rules from the inventory database 204 and transmits them tothe BMA 112. In another embodiment, the BAM 112 maintains a local recordof purchasing rules and accesses or references it as required.

Returning to FIGS. 4A and 4B, if the buyers mobile applicationdetermines that purchase of the item is allowable, it adds 412 a, 412 b,412 c, 412 d the item to the digital cart. At the same time, thebuyers/delivery personnel physically collect the item. If the BMA 112determines that purchase of the item is not allowable, then theapplication determines 414 a, 414 b, 414 c, 414 d if any items areremaining on the order. If there are, the buyers/delivery personnelproceeds to locate 404 the item (and continue as previously described).If not, the BMA 112, responding to input from the buyers/deliverypersonnel, adds an “expression” 416 a to the cart. “Expression” involvesdetermining a final list of items for purchase. In one embodiment, theBMA 112 transmits an identification of each item to the shoppingassistance platform, which matches each item against the customer orderand verifies that the order has been fulfilled.

Subsequently, the BMA 112 determines 418 a, 418 b, 418 c, 418 d a totalsystemic sales price or gross merchandise value (GMV) for the cart ofitems. The GMV reflects the price that a customer would pay at aphysical point of sale within the store. Expression may also involvedetermining whether one or more discounts, promotions, or other pricechanges apply, and adjusting the GMV accordingly. The BMA 112 thendirects the CSS 102 to execute 420 a, 420 b, 420 c a credit card paymentto the retailer in the amount of the GMV. Currently or some timethereafter, the BMA 112 transmits 422 a, 422 b, 422 c, 422 d details ofthe transaction to the retailer. The details include which items werepurchased and how much was paid for each. Asynchronously, the buyersdeliver 424 a, 424 b, 424 c and 424 d the order to the customer.Non-Profit entities usually send their own personnel's to collectsurplus food order generated by restaurants, though in some cases aNon-Profit entity does not have pickup personnel, they can requestbuyers (delivery personnel) for pickup an order from the restaurants 424d.

FIG. 5 is an object interaction diagram describing a first method forfulfilling an order via a shopping assistance platform, according to oneembodiment. A customer places 502,706,806,906 and order requesting oneor more items. The customer places the order on via the CMA 105 or via awebsite associated with the cyber shopping system. The BMA 112determines 504/604/704/904 an order total. The system then transmits506/706/806/906 the order details to a buyers/delivery personnel. Thebuyers/delivery personnel fulfill 508/708/808/908 the order (asdescribed previously with reference to FIG. 2 ). Once the buyers havefulfilled the order, he/she transmits 510/710/810/910 the cart detailsto the system. The system verifies 512/712/812/912 that the order hasbeen fulfilled satisfactorily. The system then determines514/714/814/914 a GMV which represents a total value of the order owedto the retailer. The system then charges 516/716/816/916 a paymentchannel associated with the customer. The system then transmits518/718/818/918 payment to the retailer in the amount of the GMV, aswell as a summary of transaction details. The retailer returns520/720/820/920 a transaction confirmation to the system. The systemshares 522/722/822/922 the transaction confirmation with thebuyers/delivery personnel. The buyers then deliver the fulfilled orderto the Customer 524 a or 524 b Non-Profit entity/724 a Customer or 724 bNon-Profit entity/824 a Customer or 824 b Non-Profit entity/924 aCustomer or 924 b Non-Profit entity. The customer, upon receiving theordered items, returns 526/726/826/926 a confirmation of delivery to thecyber shopping server.

In a traditional transaction flow, the CSS 102 charges a customerpayment channel at the time an order is placed. The BAM 112, based on anestimation of the funds required to purchase the order items, transfersfunds to a stored value or prepaid card in the possession of abuyers/delivery personnel 108. The buyers/delivery personnel 108 thenfulfills the order and pays for the items using the card. Consequently,to collect payment from a customer 104 and enable a buyers/deliverypersonnel 108 to pay for the ordered items, the GSS 102 will bear theprocessing costs of the transactions.

In another embodiment, the buyers108 passes through the same check-outprocess as any other customer at the store. The buyers/deliverypersonnel must therefore present an identification of the items forpurchase as well as a payment instrument with which he/she will pay forthe items. Typically, check-out cashiers scan each item individually anda point of-sale (POS) system determines and displays a total sale price.The process of scanning each item individually is time-consuming.

In some embodiments, a buyers/delivery personnel 108 utilizes the BAM112 to accelerate the traditional checkout process at a retailer 110. Asdescribed with reference to FIG. 2 , the buyers/delivery personnel 108scans using the BMA 112 each item he/she collects within the retailer110. As buyers ready for checkout, he/she submits final checkout andpayment information to an external payment gateway or payment processor,which processes the transaction and returns the receipt of itemspurchased. Retailer returns QR Barcode as part of the receipt that canbe used to track the purchased items (including their quantity, price,SKU, etc.) at retailer system. The OFSE 206 stores payment andtransactional information associated with each order in a transactionrecords database 208. A cashier or other employee associated with theretailer 110 therefore reads, captures, or scans the receipt/QR code andextracts an identification of the items for purchase. As needed, thebuyers 108 can presents a payment channel which is used to pay for theitems.

FIG. 6 is an object interaction diagram describing a method ofaccelerated checkout, according to one embodiment. A customer places anorder requesting one or more items—the order details 602. The customerplaces the order via the CMA 105 or via a website associated with theshopping assistant system. The CSS 102 determines an order total 604(including one or all-grocery, restaurants or regional cuisine). Thesystem then charges a payment channel associated with the customer. Thesystem then transmits 608/708/808/908 the order details to a buyer. Thebuyers/delivery personnel fulfill 610/710/810/910 the order (asdescribed previously with reference to FIG. 2 ). Once the buyersfinished collecting items within the retailer 110, he/she uses the BMA112 to generate 612/712/812/912 a QR code. As described previously, theencoded image contains information describing each item in the cart,such as its price, quantity, weight, SKU, serial number, and so on. Thebuyers/delivery personnel display 614/714/814/914 the QR image to acashier (or other employee) of the retailer, who scans it to determinewhich items have been collected for purchase. The cashier scans theencoded image using an image reader or other electronic device whichextracts the information encoded in the image. A computer systemsubsequently determines 616/716/816/916 a GMV which is owed to theretailer. The cashier requests 618/718/818/918 payment of the GMV fromthe buyers/delivery personnel. The buyers/delivery personnel present apayment instrument (such as a credit or debit card) and pays620/720/820/920 the GMV. The cashier transmits 622/722/822/922 aphysical or electronic receipt to the buyers/delivery personnel. Thebuyers/delivery personnel, using his/her buyers/delivery personnelmobile application, returns 624/724/824/924 a confirmation of successfulpurchase of the cart to the BMA 112. At some subsequent point in time,the buyers/delivery personnel 108 delivers to Customer 626 a orNon-Profit entity 626 b, Customer 726 a or Non-Profit entity 726 b,Customer 826 a or Non-Profit entity 826 b, the Customer 926 a orNon-Profit entity 926 b the purchased items.

It should be noted that one or more aspects of the previously describedprocess may vary. For example, in some embodiments, the buyers/deliverypersonnel 108 may use a self-service automated machine which isconfigured to transfer the products items directly to retailer asbuyer's collect-scan and load the items in cart. Additionally, insteadof encoding cart details into an encoded image, the BMA 112 may insteadtransmit the cart data via one of multiple communications technologiesor protocols, including but not limited to: RFID, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, andso on. In one embodiment, the buyers 108 can tap his/her mobile deviceto a device at the physical check-out, whereby the BMA 112 transmits thecart details to the device. The buyers can then pay for the items usingone of multiple possible payment methods (debit/credit card, cash,etc.). For Restaurant and Regional Cuisine, Buyers verifies items & ifnot paid then use the card to pay at the register.

The description of the embodiments of the present invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to bein-depth or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons knowledgeable in the relevant technology can appreciate thatmany modifications and variations are possible considering the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information.

These algorithmic descriptions and representations are commonly used bythose skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance oftheir work effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations,while described functionally, computationally, or logically, areunderstood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalentelectrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has alsoproven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operationsas modules, without loss of generality. The described operations andtheir associated modules may be embodied in software, firmware,hardware, or any combinations thereof. Any of the steps, operations, orprocesses described herein may be performed or implemented with one ormore hardware or software modules, alone or in combination with otherdevices. In one embodiment, a software module is implemented with acomputer program product comprising a computer-readable mediumcontaining computer program code, which can be executed by a computerprocessor for performing any or all the steps, operations, or processesdescribed.

In certain embodiments, a platform, environment or network may refer toany interconnecting system capable of transmitting audio, video,signals, data, messages, or any combination of the preceding. Thenetwork may include all or a portion of a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN), a public or private data network, a local area network(LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), alocal, regional, or global communication or computer network such as theInternet, a wireline or wireless network, an enterprise intranet, or anyother suitable communication link, including combinations thereof.

The server and the computer of the present invention may each includecomputing systems. This disclosure contemplates any suitable number ofcomputing systems. This disclosure contemplates the computing systemtaking any suitable physical form. As example and not by way oflimitation, the computing system may be a virtual machine (VM), anembedded computing system, a system-on-chip (SOC), a single-boardcomputing system (SBC) (e.g., a computer-on-module (COM) orsystem-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computing system, a laptop ornotebook computing system, a smart phone, an interactive kiosk, amainframe, a mesh of computing systems, a server, an application server,or a combination of two or more of these. Where appropriate, thecomputing systems may include one or more computing systems; be unitaryor distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; orreside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in oneor more networks. Where appropriate, one or more computing systems mayperform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or moresteps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein. As anexample and not by way of limitation, one or more computing systems mayperform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or moremethods described or illustrated herein. One or more computing systemsmay perform at different times or at different locations one or moresteps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein, whereappropriate.

In some embodiments, the computing systems may execute any suitableoperating system such as IBM's zSeries/Operating System (z/OS), MS-DOS,PC-DOS, MAC-OS, WINDOWS, UNIX, OpenVMS, an operating system based onLINUX, or any other appropriate operating system, including futureoperating systems. In some embodiments, the computing systems may be aweb server running web server applications such as Apache, Microsoft'sInternet Information Server™, and the like.

In particular embodiments, the computing systems includes a processor, amemory, a user interface and a communication interface. In particularembodiments, the processor includes hardware for executing instructions,such as those making up a computer program. The memory includes mainmemory for storing instructions such as computer program(s) for theprocessor to execute, or data for processor to operate on. The memorymay include mass storage for data and instructions such as the computerprogram. As an example and not by way of limitation, the memory mayinclude an HDD, a floppy disk drive, flash memory, an optical disc, amagneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive,a solid-state drive (SSD), or a combination of two or more of these. Thememory may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, whereappropriate. The memory may be internal or external to computing system,where appropriate. In particular embodiments, the memory isnon-volatile, solid-state memory.

The user interface includes hardware, software, or both providing one ormore interfaces for communication between a person and the computersystems. As an example and not by way of limitation, an user interfacedevice may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse,printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touchscreen,trackball, video camera, another suitable user interface or acombination of two or more of these. A user interface may include one ormore sensors. This disclosure contemplates any suitable user interfaceand any suitable user interfaces for them.

The communication interface includes hardware, software, or bothproviding one or more interfaces for communication (e.g., packet-basedcommunication) between the computing systems over the network. As anexample and not by way of limitation, the communication interface mayinclude a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter forcommunicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wirelessNIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicating with a wirelessnetwork, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosure contemplates anysuitable network and any suitable communication interface. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, the computing systems may communicate withan ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), orone or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more ofthese. One or more portions of one or more of these networks may bewired or wireless. As an example, the computing systems may communicatewith a wireless PAN (WPAN) (e.g., a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, aWI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (e.g., a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) network), or other suitable wireless networkor a combination of two or more of these. The computing systems mayinclude any suitable communication interface for any of these networks,where appropriate.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a tangible computer readable storage medium, whichinclude any type of tangible media suitable for storing electronicinstructions and coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, anycomputing systems referred to in the specification may include a singleprocessor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designsfor increased computing capability.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for transparently reducing consumablewaste-comprising: an inventory database coupled to a blockchain chainsystem; a retail server in electrical communication with the inventorydatabase; a processor, a memory comprising computing device-executableinstructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processorto implement: a system communication interface for accessing a donationcollaboration platform over a network; a user interface for displayingand interacting with the donation collaboration platform; an ordermanagement engine for generating a donation collaboration on thedonation collaboration platform, wherein the donation collaborationcomprises at least one of a consumable identifier, one or morerestriction rule, and a donation request; a buyer management engine foradding an encoded image to the donation collaboration, wherein theencoded image comprises an identified list comprising at least onedonated consumable determined to be a surplus consumable based in parton the inventory database and the donation request; and the retailserver configured to generate, for the blockchain system, a blockchaintransaction of the donation collaboration, wherein the blockchaintransaction comprises the one or more donated consumable and anon-profit destination linked together.
 2. The system of claim 1,further comprising a kitchen rental collaboration platform, wherein theorder management engine generates a kitchen rental collaboration on therental collaboration platform, wherein the kitchen rental collaborationincludes a kitchen rental request, wherein the buyer management enginedetermines an unused kitchen space based in part on the inventorydatabase and the kitchen rental request; and wherein the retail serveris configured to link the non-profit destination with a consumablegenerated through the kitchen space.